Wyking Jones Agrees to Contract with Cal to Replace Cuonzo Martin as HC

The California Golden Bears have found their new head basketball coach.

On Friday, the team announced it has promoted assistant coach Wyking Jones to the head coach position. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports initially reported the news. 

Rothstein noted Jones was on the staff with Cuonzo Martin, who left the Golden Bears after three seasons to take the head coaching position at the University of Missouri.

According to Jeff Goodman of ESPN, Jones' deal is for five years. Goodman called it a "shocking move."

Wilner reported Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett was offered the position but "had reservations." Wilner also reported Nevada head coach Eric Musselman was not offered the position.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports previously said Musselman met with California officials on two separate occasions but elected to remain at Nevada. Reporting on Musselman's decision, Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote, "Sounds like Cal search process was very off-putting. That circus was not appealing."

As for Jones, Rothstein noted he has plenty of experience at the college level in addition to his time with California.

He was on Rick Pitino's staff with the Louisville Cardinals for four seasons and helped them win a national title and reach two Final Fours. What's more, Jones was a member of the New Mexico coaching staff when the Lobos won a school-record 30 games in 2010 before his time with Louisville.

Jones takes over a California program that has enjoyed moderate success in recent seasons.

It won more than 20 games in seven of the last nine campaigns, including a 21-13 effort in 2016-17, and made the NCAA tournament five times during that span. However, it was left out of the Big Dance this season, so Jones will be tasked with turning things around in 2017-18.